Summarised by Centrist
The saga over NZME’s board finally came to a head this week with Steven Joyce confirmed as chair and Jim Grenon formally elected to the board, a negotiated compromise that brought a tense, polarising shareholder battle to an anticlimactic end, according to The Fold’s Duncan Greive.
Greive attended the AGM, describing it as physically “cold” and drafty and a microcosm of democracy. An event where the real power shift happened not in fiery speeches but in pre-agreed proxy votes.
“It looked like it might be an electric kind of battle,” he said, “but it turned out relatively orderly.”
Joyce, the former National Finance Minister and founder of RadioWorks, was warmly received, deflecting concerns about editorial independence and insisting the board’s role was governance, not day-to-day interference.
Grenon, the Canadian investor who amassed a 13% stake and sparked the shake-up, was more ambiguous. Describing himself as an agitator, he told shareholders, framing himself as a well-meaning disruptor rather than a hostile force. Grieve relayed that Grenon told the audience he didn’t know if he went about it the right way… but he wasn’t sure he would have succeeded any other way.
Concerns about editorial control surfaced repeatedly, particularly around the new editorial board and how much sway Grenon – or incoming tech executive Bowen Pan – might wield. One shareholder worried Grenon would gain insider access to business plans unavailable to others. Others questioned whether the boardroom shift was the start of a political reorientation of the Herald. Greive noted the limits of influence: “He’s just one vote, not a majority.”
The meeting took place hours after Stuff and TradeMe’s surprise announcement of a joint digital venture – a move many attendees interpreted as a direct threat to NZME’s OneRoof strategy. The timing, Greive said, was no accident. “Stuff just crowd-surfed the moment.”
Despite fears of a takeover, the final vibe was more community town hall than corporate coup. As Greive put it: “You hope for good faith from smart people.”
